date in Beja district was badly beaten up by Fascist thugs
on the night of October, 15o
5*  The Portuguese government expelled a delegation of the
Socialist International which visited Lisbon to view the
voting. The expulsion came on the final day of the elections;
after the Socialist International delegation issued a statement saying:  "The Socialist International Commission... feels
1:the election presently allowed by the (Portuguese) regime
cannot be judged as democratic or free by any accepted
standards of western democracy".
6. On 5th October, 3000 Portuguese citizens including many
opposition militants went on a pilgrimage to a Lisbon
cemetery to celebrate Republic Day. The ceremony was
quiet and orderly, but because of its anti-government
implications, the crowd was assailed by Fascist police
and dogSo  Policemen were seen  striking people with
rifles and ^ne woman passerby was hit on the back with a
club because she did not move out of the way fast enough.
Police seized film of the demonstration from foreign newspapermen, while Portuguese photographers were warned not to
take any pictures of the police action.
7. It appears that only'19.5% of the Portuguese population was
eligible to vote. We need hardly add that after the intimidation came the fraud, thus permitting the National Union
Party to win all of the 130 seats.
Caetano tried to deny responsibility for some of the above indidents.
His spokesmen privately suggested that violence against the opposition
was "part of a campaign of right-wing extremists and fascist groups
to discredit Caetano and his attempts to liberalise the regime".  Why
should a confirmed Fascist like Caetano complain about other people
being right-wing extremists and Fascists? The answer lies precisely
in the efforts by Caetano and his NATO instructors to put a deceptive
new coat of paint over Portuguese Fascism;  while some other leading
Portuguese Fascists do not see the need to compromise or camouflage
in any way.  This was the sole point of difference among candidates of
the National Union Party in the last 'elections'.  It is a disagreement
over tactics and it expresses itself in the struggle for personal power
within the Fascist hierarchy.
What is certain is that whoever wins the struggle among the various
Fascist dogs, the position in Portugal and in the Portuguese colonies
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